Whatever It Takes
by jessisthebestduh
Summary: Charlotte Rae Blake aka Charlie is Glenn's roommate and best friend. She was trained by her military father how to hunt and how to fight which means she's was practically trained to survive in the crazy new world she lives in. Her and Glenn escape Atlanta and find the group along the way. She also finds a certain redneck that peaks her interest.
1. Chapter 1

Hey readers! this is my first stab at a walking dead fanfic so go easy on me. Hopefully you like the first chapter and give me some feedback. I have so many ideas for this story so I will post again soon depending on if i can steal my roommates computer charger (mine broke).

Disclaimer: I do not own anything remotely related to The Walking Dead.

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Charlotte Rae Blake was in her apartment with her best friend and roommate Glenn Rhee when shit hit the fan. They were sitting on their couch watching the local news when they heard screams coming from the apartment below them. When reports had started coming in that there was this cannibalism virus going around Charlotte had packed a bag with all her old hunting gear in it, some spare clothes, water, and food. She had also made Glen pack a bag as well and even though he had complained at the moment he could not be happier that she was there to think ahead for the both of them. The two of them made eye contact and Charlotte nodded and got up soundless and went to their packs and started getting ready to leave. She then strapped on her throwing knife holster around her right thigh and then another holster around waist and upper left thigh. Glen got up and moved the couch they were just sitting on in front of their door to give them a little extra time and then joined his friend, getting ready himself. It took them all of two minutes to get everything on and then walked over to the window with the fire escape. Charlotte walked out first with her compound bow in hand and an arrow notched ready to fly as she led them down. There weren't any of the infected in the ally yet but that was only a matter of time and they needed to move fast. Charlotte got off the fire escape closely followed by Glenn and they made their way down the ally to the street where the car was parked. They jogged to the opening and Charlotte slowed down with Glen following her lead and she came up to the opening slowly. they could see her red Ford Focus across the street and Glenn's was further down the road but they had to make sure the surrounding area was clear. Both of them could hear distant screaming coming from the main road just two blocks over and a sense of urgency washed over both of them. They look up and down the road three times before they darted across the street to Charlotte's car with her keys in hand. Charlotte knew pressing the unlock button might attract attention but it was faster so she went for it. They were a few feet from the car when one of the infected came out of the alley next to the car. Glenn stopped in his tracks and backed up a bit only to hear a gurgling sound come from behind them.

"Glenn! keys!" Charlotte had yelled to get his attention so he could catch the keys she was throwing at him. Charlotte then took aim with her bow and without a second thought fired her arrow through the infected's skull then turned gracefully and shot another arrow at an infected behind then made her way to her car where Glenn was already starting it up and peeling out of the parking spot as soon as I was safely in the passenger seat. Glenn knew all the side roads and got us out of the city within twenty minutes.

"Where do we go? What are going to do?" Glenn asked. He had started shaking and tears had started to form in his eyes but he pushed them back and glanced at his best friend. Charlotte had started rummaging through her pack and pulled out a map.

"We have to get onto the closest tallest mountain or a woodsy area somewhere not to far away cus there will be too much traffic, but I can find us food in the woods and I can protect us until its safe to move on." Charlotte scanned the map and pointed to a place on the map and started giving directions to Glenn.

"Char, I can't believe you killed those guys." They had been driving for about an hour at that point when Glenn had whispered what had been weighing on him since he got in the car. She looked at him and took a deep breath before answering him.

"You've seen what they do Glenn. One of those 'guys' had blood dripping from its mouth from god only knows who. Bottom line its us of them and I chose us and I would do it again and again no matter what. This is the world we live in now and we have to adapt, if we don't then we're dead." He held eye contact for a few seconds before nodding slightly and looking back at the road.

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We drove for a while and was getting close to our destination. They were on a winding road on the side of a small mountain and it had started to get dark out so they pulled down a dirt road and pulled off the road a bit. Charlotte and Glenn then got out of the car to stretch their legs.

"So uh, what do we do now?" Glenn asked looking across the top of the car at Charlotte and she met his eyes with her piercing gaze letting out a soft sigh.

"I'm not really sure Glenn, maybe try and find a group with people we can trust if there even is a group like that. But until then we watch each others back and survive."

We decided to sleep in the car that night taking shifts till morning with the keys in the ignition just in case. When Glenn was sleeping and Charlotte was on watch she used that time to reflect on how her messed up life had prepared her for the world ending. Her mom had died during childbirth, so it was just Charlotte and her dad for most of her life. Her dad was in the military so they moved around a lot. This caused Charlotte to become a loner never really having a friend her whole life growing up and getting constantly picked on and bullied. One day when Charlotte was around eight, she had come home with black eye and her dad decided it was time to teach her how to defend herself. After a few years of self defense and martial arts training from her father she found she actually enjoyed it and started to show interest in weapons too. The bow was her main focus but her dad also trained her in throwing knives and in shooting guns too. Her dad was a hard and serious man but he loved her and gave her her best chance. When she was sixteen her dad died in service and she became an orphan. She kept her skills sharpened in the foster system constantly getting in trouble for beating up other kids. Then she turned eighteen left the system and moved to Atlanta. She met Glenn and they quickly became friends deciding to be roommates. They've been living together for the past couple of years. As her thoughts drifted to Glenn she looked over at him and smiled to herself. He was one of the best things to ever happen to Charlotte, her first real true friend. No matter what Charlotte will do whatever it takes to protect what she cares about.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey y'all so I binged watched TWD again yesterday and then had a nightmare about zombies but I wasn't scared too bad and it actually gave some ideas so whatever. Also I wanted to give a big shout out to y2j591 for being my very first review and to everyone who fallowed/fav my story I hope you guys like this chapter as well.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with The Walking Dead.

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Charlotte POV

It's been fifteen days since we left Atlanta and only five days since they blew it up. Glenn and I have been hiking a few miles from our camp for the past two hour, I was looking for something to hunt and Glenn was watching my back. We're a good team, I was able to focus on the hunt and it helped that he was fast and quiet. I've already caught two squirrels but I was hoping to find something bigger. I was currently tracking a deer or at least I think I was, I'm still a little rusty. We were silently walking through the forest when we heard something we hadn't heard in a long time, people. Glenn and I had somehow managed to walk into a campground full of people.

"Holy shit Glenn." I grabbed his arm and pulled him down behind a bush. We made eye contact and I could seen in his eyes what he wanted to do. He so desperately wanted to be around other people, to be in a group, and it scared me. We didn't know these people and they could be dangerous for all we know.

"Char look!" Glenn had popped his head up and was looking at people around the campsite his eyes were wide like a man seeing a lake after walking through a desert with no water. I sighed I knew I had to at least scope out the place before deciding to leave so I popped my head up and took a look around. What I saw almost brought tears to my eyes. There were children playing as their mom's watched them sitting in lawn chairs chatting away as if they were on a camping trip with their families and friends. I was so shocked and consumed with what was in front of me that I didn't notice someone sneaking up on me until it was to late. There was a startled cry from Glenn next to me and I felt something press up against my back.

"Well what do we got here?" I stood up slowly with a nudge from whoever was behind me. Once I was up straight I moved, I pivoted to my right and grabbed at the weapon that was pointed at my back and pushed whoever was holding it away with my left hand causing them to stumble back more out of surprise but I succeeded still holding onto the crossbow in my arms aimed at the bigger man holding Glenn.

"Let him go" my voice was steady when I spoke and the man I disarmed started to walk towards me and in one quick movement I held the crossbow with my right hand and pulled my pistol from my holster with my left hand and pointed it at the smaller man making him stop where he stood. I kept the crossbow aimed at the bigger man holding Glenn as both men stared at me in confusion and curiosity. I could here rustling behind me and then four men came out and I suddenly had two guns pointed at me and blunt objects raised all aimed at me. I locked eyes with Glenn and he look terrified and I couldn't let him get hurt so I knew that if I couldn't fight my way out then I had to talk my way out. I very slowly put my gun away trying to seem less threatening and put the crossbow on the ground and put my hands in the air a little bit.

"We mean no harm to you or your camp. We were hunting for food and we came across you by accident." I locked eyes with the one that I had taken the crossbow from. He was actually kind of hot in a rugged dirty way and I didn't break eye contact with him until a strong intimidating looking man spoke.

"Are there more of you?" I looked at the man and I could tell by the way he stood that he was in charge so I slowly turned to face him and looked him in the eyes before responding.

"No its just me an my friend, we got a small little campsite about eight miles east of here. I was trying to track a large animal but now I'm thinking I was tracking one of you. We didn't mean to startle y'all but when we found you we weren't sure what to do. We haven't seen anybody for a few weeks now, we are just as surprised to see you as you are to see us." I saw them all look at me with doubt in their eyes and I sighed glancing over to Glenn still being held by the larger man who winked at me when our eyes met. I rolled mine and turned them back to the leader waiting for him to give an order that could end in my death and Glenn's, I was scared shitless.

"Its just the two of you, how'd you guys even make it this long?" There it was, they think that just because Glenn and I are small that were weak but they are sadly mistaken and I would be happy to prove it given the chance. I once again rolled my eyes and scoffed at the big group of men surrounding me.

"Don't underestimate me, or it might come back to kick ya in the ass." I saw the crossbow guy smirk at my comment and the big guy even laughed, the leader was not as amused but I could see a hint of a smile on his face. As I looked around at all the men I realized that this was our perfect opportunity to join a group and I wasn't going to pass up the chance to keep Glenn safe and a big group was a lot safer than just me and him. I forced my body to relax trying to give off a less dangerous vibe and took my only chance while crossing my fingers.

"Look, I know this was a weird first impression but honestly Glenn and I have been talking about finding a group for a while now and you guys look like a nice group of people even when your pointing a gun at me. I think we would be a huge asset to your group and we would feel safer in a group. Basically what I'm saying is that we want to join y'all." They were all staring at me with wide eyes shocked at my statement. The older man had lowered his gun and the big black guy and the hispanic guy and both lowered their weapons as well.

"What do you mean by you'd be an asset?" I smiled knowing that question was coming and looked around and spotted what I was looking for. There was a squirrel climbing a tree a few yards away so I very slowly reached down and grabbed my compound bow I had left on the ground, and I grabbed an arrow from my quiver slung over my back. Everyone had raised their weapons again but I didn't care I raised my bow and fired nailing the squirrel to the tree with my arrow a smile breaking out on my face as I looked at the leader. He seemed shocked but he lowered his gun and nodded to the big dude holding Glenn who released his hold dropping Glenn to the ground, then the leader stepped forward with his hand out for me to shake.

"I'm Shane, welcome to camp." I stepped forward to shake Shane's hand and smiled.

"I'm Charlotte, but you guys can call me Charlie."

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AN: Yay I finally got to use her nickname I really wanted that in the first chapter but it just didn't fit anywhere and I couldn't just start randomly calling her Charlie. I really hope you guys like it and please give me some feed back or just words of encouragement or well anything really so I know if you guys like it or not.


	3. Chapter 3

Hey so this one took me a while to do but its twice as long so I'm pretty proud of it. Let me know what you think in a review.

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Shane took Glenn and Charlie around the camp introducing them to everyone. Charlie had put on my most pleasant smile as they went around meeting everyone, they had just finished all the introductions they walked past the two men that had caught Charlie and Glenn by surprise earlier, Charlie heard the bigger man make a comment to the crossbow wielder.

"I can't believe you let that little bitch disarm ya." Charlotte knew she wasn't meant to hear that but she did and so did Glenn by the way he stiffened next to her and gave her a look that basically said do not engage, but as always Charlie didn't listen, and started walking up to the two men.

"Listen I know we got off on the wrong foot and I'm sorry bout that, but if I hear you call me a disrespectful name again I will take out my knives and use you as target practice. Got it." Charlie was glaring at the taller man who easily towered over her, and the entire time she was speaking she noticed the other man tense up prepared for a fight. The taller man looked Charlie over for a minute before he smiled at her and laughed.

"Yer a little spitfire ain't ya." She smiled back up at him before answering.

"I've been told that before." He laughed again and she laughed too, Charlie glanced around and could tell a lot of people were staring at the two of them in shock, the man with the crossbow was staring at them as if they had each grown two heads which made her laugh even more. Charlie looked back at the taller man putting her hand out to shake his.

"I'm Charlie." She had a big smile plastered on her face as he grabbed her had and shook it.

"M' names Merle, this one here is my baby brother Daryl." Charlie looked past Merle and met Daryl's gaze. His eyes were ice blue and pierced straight through you and into your soul. He wasn't big like Merle but you could tell he had a strong build to him and his arms were very well defined. Charlie sent him a smile and he nodded in return before she looked back at Merle.

"So I'm guessing it's you two that do the huntin?" she asked looking at the two brothers and their little campsite. Their knives were all over the place and the crossbow was leaning against a tree near one of the two tents.

"You bet your sweet ass we do." Merle said a proud smile plastered on his face. She rolled her eyes before smiling and glanced at Glenn behind her and smiled a mischievous smile, signaling that 'this will be fun' and winked at him before turning her gaze back to the brothers.

"Well let me know the next time you both go out, I've got a Diamond Black Ice FLX Compound Bow a quiver full of arrows and at least 10 throwing knives and my knuckle knife. I used to go hunting with my dad all the time, I'm still a good shot." By the time Charlie was done talking everyone's eyes were now fully gaping at the young woman in front of them. The young woman in front of them did not seem all the intimidating at first glance, she was about 5'5" with dark brown hair that reached her mid back. Her silver blue eyes moved back and forth between the two brothers waiting for one of them to underestimate her.

"Well ain't that cute, lil' spitfire here thinks she can hunt. Sorry sweetheart but we ain't interested in bringing ya along, you'll just slow us down." Charlie laughed as if Merle had told a hilarious joke. Merle just stared at her as if she was crazy before she opened her eyes and sighed.

"Well I think you'll need me out there in fact if I slow you down in the slightest bit feel free to leave me behind no hard feelings." Charlie smirked up at Merle and put her hand out as if to shake his hand. "Deal?" He stared at her hand for a while and for a second she thought he wasn't going to shake but after some time his big hand enveloped her smaller hand and they smiled at each other. she sent the two brothers a wave of her hand before walking back over to Glenn and laughed at his expression. "What?" Charlie asked faking innocence, he just rolled his eyes at her before laughing along with her. They walked around with Shane a little more before he walked off to go talk to the woman named Lori. Glenn and Charlie started to set up their little camp, they each had a small tent to set up and it took about an hour until they were all done. Charlie told Glenn she was gonna look for a few rabbits and squirrels in the woods for a little bit and he told her to be careful. She just nodded at him before grabbing her bow, strapping her quiver to her hip, and strapping a her holster with her knives in it to her other hip. she also grabbed her gun tucking it into the back of her jean shorts before heading out into the woods.

It had been about ten minutes before she saw a rabbit running across her path, her arrow was already notched on her bow and she just pulled it back and let it fly hitting the rabbit in the eye, killing it instantly. Charlie smiles and grabbed some rope from her hip holster and tied it around the leg of the rabbit before tying it to her belt loop, and continuing to search for more. After some time and two more rabbits Charlie was starting to make her way back to camp when she heard a noise behind her and she spun around her arrow ready and aiming in the direction the noise came from. After a few seconds Daryl walked out onto the trail and was shocked when her saw her with an arrow pointed at his head. Charlie let out a sigh and lowered her weapon smiling at him before taking in his appearance. He had a few fuzzy animals hanging from his pants like hers but a few more then her. Daryl also took the time to take in her appearance, she had on a blue tank top that showed just a little bit of her mid drift and some jean shorts that showed off her long tan legs. He noticed a few tattoos, one on each arm, he was almost positive there were more. Thoughts of exploring her body in search of tattoos invaded his mind and he had to shake his head in order to get rid of the images running through his head. When Daryl looked back at Charlie she was smiling sweetly at him.

"Well hello there, fancy meeting you here." There was laughter behind her voice that made you just want to smile along with her. Daryl had to fight the urge to smile back at her it was almost contagious in a strange way he had never experienced before. He grunted in reply while she continued to smile at him. "Well are you heading back? We can head back together." He just nodded and she turned and started walking towards camp.

"You don't talk much do you? It's cool Glenn always says I can talk enough for two people." She turned her head and smiled at him. Her eyes caught something moving in the bush behind Daryl, She put her hand on his shoulder to move him out of the way and felt him flinch when she touched him, once he was out of her way she had her bow and arrow pointed at the bush and let it fly when she saw a bushy white tail. She smiled when she noticed the look of surprise on his face before she went over and grabbed her kill. Daryl was still staring at her in stunned silence when she walked back up to him. "So, how did you learn how to hunt?" Charlie glanced at Daryl quickly and noticed him stiffen slightly.

"Merle taught me." His answer was short but Charlie looked genuinely interested in anything he had to say, and that scared him. No one has ever been interested in anything he's had to say his whole life, and this girl has known him for all of ten seconds and acts like everything he's saying is pure gold.

"That was nice of him. My dad taught me everything I know. Like how to hunt, how to fight, how to live in this new world basically, he gave me my best possible chance by training me. He could have told me no and that learning to hunt and fight was for boys or something but he didn't he saw my potential and showed me how to use it." Charlie stopped talking even though she knew she could go on and on about her dad. She had noticed that Daryl had become more and more tense she talked about her father and figured it was best to stop there. "Have you always been in Georgia? It's a pretty nice place just too damn hot." She chuckled at the end and glanced at Daryl and saw the corner of his mouth twitch.

"Ya born and raised in Georgia." She smiled at him realizing the more they were talking the more he said. She didn't really understand why Daryl was so interesting to her, she was just drawn towards him and wanted to know as much as possible about him. It was this overwhelming feeling of wanting to know him. She would have kept asking him questions but they just walked into camp so they had to part ways.

"Well it was really nice talking to you, we should do this again it was fun." She smiled up at him and Daryl couldn't help but smile a small smile back at her. Daryl nodded his head in response and turned to walk away. "Bye Daryl." He froze for a moment hearing her say his name for the first time. He found that he rather enjoyed hearing his name roll off her tongue and realized that he wanted to hear her say his name more. She fascinated him, she wasn't intimidated by him or his brother which was a rarity. Hell, she even seemed interested in him. He glanced back at her to see her smiling face then his eyes landed on the dead string of animals hanging from her waist. He then sighed before making up his mind and walked back over to her. Once he got close enough to her he could see the puzzled look of her face before he reached down and started to untie the string of animals. His fingers grazed against the skin on her hips and it sent a shiver down her spine. Before she knew what was happening Daryl had grabbed her kill and swung it over his shoulder and turned around to head to his and Merles little campsite. He looked over his shoulder to see she was still in shock and had a slight blush on her face.

"Bye Charlotte." He said to her over his shoulder and watched as her eyes widened slightly and then her face relaxed and she smiled softly. He then turned back around and went to his tent.

Once Daryl had left Charlie went back to her tent to change out of her clothes. She threw on an off white tank top that stopped just at her belly button and said free spirit on the front. She also put on a pair of black jeggings with a rip in both knees. She then collapsed on to her sleeping bag and grabbed one of her books to read and relax for a little bit before dinner.

It had been a few hours and Charlie was still nose deep in her book when Glenn came into her tent to get her for dinner. When Charlie stepped out of her tent she noticed that it was now dark out and she could see a few shallow fires around the camp. She noticed a large group huddled around a slightly larger fire and realized that was the direction Glenn was leading her to. The woman she remembered was named Lori handed her a plate with some food on it and then Charlie went and sat down next to Glenn.

"So Glenn told us you guys lived together for a few years how long have you guys been together?" Shane asked from across the fire looking back and forth between me and Glenn. Charlie and Glenn looked at each other before they both busted up laughing. The two of them had gotten similar questions before and they knew that most people just couldn't understand how a girl and a guy can be just friends. Everyone was looking at them with interest when Charlie looked back at Shane.

"We met when I first moved to Atlanta four years ago. I got a job at the pizza place Glenn worked at and we became friends. After a few months I was looking for a roommate and I asked Glenn and we were living together ever since. We're like brother and sister." I saw the Dixons at their own little fire watching us out of the corner of my eye.

"How many tattoos do you have?" The question had come from the blonde girl who seemed a few years younger than Charlie. She smiled at the blonde before standing up and holding out her arms.

"Well I have this one on my right forearm that is a quote from Alice in wonderland that says 'We're all mad here.' And I have the compass on my left wrist to symbolize that life moves in all directions. Then there's the arrow on the top of my hand under my thumb." She then turned around and showed the back of her hip. "This one is another quote that says 'Without struggle there is no progress.'' Then Charlie kicked off her left shoe and pointed her foot. "And finally this is another Alice in wonderland quote that says 'Not all those who wander are lost." She then put her shoe back on and sat back down next to Glenn. There were a few more questions here and there Glenn answered most of them until Shane asked how she learned to hunt.

"My Dad showed me. He was a country guy growing up before he entered the military so he knew how to hunt and fish and handle a weapon. He met my mom when he was living in Chicago and they fell in love immediately. Six months after they met they got married and found out that my mom was pregnant with me. My dad said that my mom knew I was a girl the minute she found out she was pregnant and was so excited to have a daughter. Sadly that never got to happen, there were complications with the end of her pregnancy and they had to deliver me through an emergency C-section a month before my due date. She didn't make it so for my entire life it was just me and my dad. We moved a lot because of him being in the military so I never really got the chance to settle down and make some friends. He died in service when I was sixteen. It was one of those things where two men dressed in uniform came to tell me and when I opened the door I just knew. I was in foster care for two years and when I got out I went to the closest big city and started working I met Glenn a few years later." Everyone sat in a stunned silence for a few minutes until Charlie stood up and stretched. "Well uh yeah I'm tired so I'm going to go to bed." She turned around and saw that Daryl was looking at her from his spot next to his brother and she smiled and winked at him. Before she walked off to her tent she made sure to look over her shoulder at everyone sitting around the fire looking at her and she smiled at everyone. "Have fun talking about me while I'm gone." She heard Glenn chuckle as she left the small group. Smiling to herself she made her way into her tent and fell asleep almost instantly when her head hit the pillow.


End file.
